I had the privilege last week of attending the 5th Annual Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off 2011. This event was made all the more exciting as the top celebrity judge was the famous French cook, Jacques Pepin, seen on the blog earlier in the week.
I have listed the delicious winner of the cook-off below, with his recipe, but first I want to tell you about Manischewitz, a company that I grew up.
My parents have always maintained a kosher home (and still do!). Many of Manischewitz’s products lined our pantry shelves. Through the years the offerings in the kosher industry have gotten more interesting and tasty, I can tell you they did not start out that way. Today there are many more choices than in the past and Manischewitz works on bringing new items to the market every year. This year alone over 25 new products were launched for Passover, an 8 day holiday where those practicing kosher living (again, my parents) do not eat any bread or “leavened” foods. Have you all tried to eat a Matzoh sandwich at some point?
The most interesting thing that I learned at this event is that the fastest growing market for Kosher food is in the non-Jewish segment. There is a perception that Kosher food is of a higher quality (it is, and it is blessed!). I myself subscribe to this as I only buy Kosher chicken broth. Of course I stock up when it is on sale, I use it to flavor my homemade stuffing from a box!
So, don’t believe me, judge for yourself, as I did at the cook-off. Try some Kosher food products from Manischewitz and see that the quality is very high and the products are tasty. And keep reading the blog as I will have some posts about my Passover holiday in a few weeks!
The cook-off was to raise awareness regarding Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), a national month of recognition of the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture, celebrated in May. JAHM acknowledges the achievements of Jewish Americans in fields ranging from sports and arts and entertainment to medicine, business, science, government, and military service. The Manischewitz Company is the proud founding sponsor of JAHM. Updates on this historic month are available on www.jahm.us and will continue through May 31, 2011.
After receiving thousands of entries, the judges selected the best to prepare and sample in their test kitchen. Professional Chef Sarah Lasry picked the freshest ingredients and prepared the dishes precisely according to the recipes entered. The result was an extremely difficult choice on the parts of the judges. In the end the best of the best rose to the top to clinch four finalists positions. The fifth finalist was selected based on the popular vote online.
As the contestants were cooking their dishes for the celebrity judges, we, the audience, got to enjoy a buffet style lunch of those 5 dishes. I easily came to the conclusion that the fifth finalist, picked by the popular vote on-line, had the tastiest dish. He seemed to have some extra support in the crowd, but my decision was based purely on the fact that I could not eat enough of his Chicken and Egg Don Burri!
Ingredients
1/4 cup creamy wasabi sauce-for dipping at end
5 tablespoons soy sauce – broth ingredient
2 1/2 tablespoons Sugar – broth ingredient
2 1/2 teaspoons mirin – broth ingredient
16 ounces boneless breast/thigh of chicken
1 cup green onions cut on diagonal
4 eggs
2 1/2 cup Japanese Sticky rice
1 cup Manischewitz® Reduced-Sodium Chicken Broth
Salt
Pepper
Water
Pickled daikon radish (garnish)
Scallions (garnish)
Red Pepper (garnish)
Preparation
Heat the broth ingredients in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Into a small frying pan over low heat pour about a 1/4 cup of the heated broth. Add 4 ounces of chicken and a 1/4 cup of the green onions. Cook the chicken pieces, turning them over for about 3 minutes, then beat an egg and stir in. In the mean time, have ready one portion of steamed rice in a deep bowl. When the egg has set, in about 50 seconds, slip the mixture over one serving of rice. Repeat this process for the remaining servings. The creamy wasabi sauce is used as a dipping sauce for the chicken.
The chicken was not dry, the rice was perfectly cooked, and I had 3 bowls. I used a technique learned at many Bar Mitzvahs, Weddings, and other large family functions. Get on the line early, put a sampling of every dish on your plate, hide in a corner and try every each one. Then return when no longer starving to fill your plate with the best picks! That method has served this chubby man well at many a fancy function!
Disclosure: I received a goody bag of Manischewitz products. All opinions expressed herein are always 100% my own.
I love Manischewitz products! YOu automatically know the quality is there!
Great post!
Annette
I used to work for the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan, I learned so much about Kosher cooking from my colleagues there! Great Post!
What an awesome event!